JNJ's Full Circle

Johnson and Johnson (JNJ) was founded by Robert Wood Johnson and his brothers. In response to Joseph Lister's discovery that airborne germs were a cause of infection in operating rooms, the Johnson brothers believed that dressings could be effective in reducing these infections. The rest, as they say, is history.

When JNJ purchased the consumer products of Pfizer last year, JNJ received Listerine as part of the purchase. Listerine is not the creation of Joseph Lister, but was named in honor of him. Unlike Lister, who had a long history of integrity, Listerine has frequently operating in the gray area of ethics, building its powerhouse business through the creation of a new disease - "chronic halitosis."